Regulatory News

Keystone Law (AIM: KEYS), the fast growing, UK Top 100, challenger law firm, today announces its interim results for the six months ended 31 July 2018 ('H1-2019' or the 'period').

Financial Highlights

• Strong revenue growth of 29.9% to £19.9 million (H1-2018: £15.3 million)
• PBTA* increased by 40.3% to £2.3 million (H1-2018: £1.7 million)
• Basic EPS rising to 5.5 pence (H1-2018: 4.0 pence)
• Robust cash conversion at 95.8% with operating cashflow of £2.2 million (H1-2018: £1.4 million)
• Interim dividend of 2.5 pence per share, in line with progressive dividend policy

* Underlying PBTA is calculated utilising profit before tax and adding back amortisation for both periods; for the prior year loan note interest is also added back.

Business Highlights

• Lawyer recruitment continues to be strong
  • Number of new applicants rose by 6% to 132 (H1-2018: 125)
  • Lawyers accepting offers increased by 9% to 36 (H1-2018: 33)
  • Number of lawyers increased by 31 (H1-2018: 20)
• Organic growth enhanced by rising reputation as a leading, quality mid-market law firm
• Continued investment in Keystone's core IT platform
• New IT security initiatives to enhance the Group's systems and support distinctive platform model
• Nominated for "Law firm of the Year" in the prestigious Lawyer Magazine Awards 2018
• Performance of the first half has traded ahead of expectations and this has laid a strong foundation for the rest of the year.

James Knight, Chief Executive Officer of Keystone Law, commented: "I am delighted to report an excellent set of Interim Results, as reflected by the Group's strong revenue and profit growth alongside the continued high levels of cash conversion.

"Keystone has a clear first mover advantage and our unique business model is underpinning our strategy to drive forward the delivery of UK centric organic growth. The recruitment activity in the period further demonstrates that our increasing reputation as a leading, quality-centric mid-market law firm makes Keystone an attractive proposition for good quality lawyers; thus, driving our expansion and enabling us to exploit the market opportunity which exists in the UK legal services sector, which we believe is ripe for disruption.

"The performance of the existing lawyers, together with the recruitment activity during the first half and the strength of the recruitment pipeline at the half year all serve to underpin management's confidence in the second half."

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Notes to editors

Keystone Law is a UK Top 100, fast growing, profitable and cash generative challenger law firm. Established in 2002, Keystone is one of the first platform models disrupting the traditional law firms operating within the legal services mid-market. Keystone's model permits rapid scalability, enabling the Group to increase the number of revenue generating lawyers more quickly than the traditional model.

As a full service law firm, Keystone delivers conventional legal services across more than 20 service areas and over 50 industry sectors to a client base comprising predominantly of SMEs and private individuals. These services are delivered by over 290 experienced self-employed lawyers who work from their own offices; with no fixed remuneration their fees are calculated with direct reference to the income they generate for the Group. The lawyers are fully supported by the Group's central office team of approximately 40 employees, and are therefore able to focus entirely on business development and the delivery of legal work.

With the head office located in the heart of London's legal district on Chancery Lane, the Group uses its bespoke proprietary software platform to enable Keystone's lawyers to interact with the central office team and each other in an easy and efficient manner, whilst extensive networking and social events engender a strong sense of belonging to the Keystone family. The platform also drives interaction, co-operation and a strong corporate culture across the business.

Keystone joined the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange in November 2017, raising £15 million, under the ticker KEYS. More information can be found at: www.keystonelaw.co.uk/

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Group to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014. Upon the publication of this announcement via a Regulatory Information Service, this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain. The person responsible for arranging the release of this announcement on behalf of the Group is Ashley Miller, Finance Director.